As long as there are stairwells in American high schools and lamps on American street corners, teenagers will get together to harmonize. With the multiplatinum success of Boyz II Men and En Vogue as inspiration, more young vocal groups than ever are moving from stairwells to recording studios. Almost all these singers have put in the long hours to turn good voices into precision parts in a harmony machine, but polished soul harmony singers still far outnumber gifted songwriters in this genre. For all the activity in the field, the genuinely satisfying soul harmony album is still a rare event. One such triumph is From the Bottom Up, the debut release by Brownstone, three women whose strong, versatile voices and tall, striking looks remind one immediately of En Vogue.
What saves this project from the assemblyline anonymity of so many committee-produced R&B albums is the personal involvement of singer Nichole "Nicci" Gilbert, who cowrote 11 of the 12 songs and coproduced four of them. The result is the best of both worlds: the craft of seasoned professionals and the distinctive personality of a young woman with her own story to tell. Their first hit, "If You Love Me," which sets the pattern for an album celebrating the intoxication of romance but demanding respect as well. The three women's ability to fashion harmonies out of full-throated gospel parts rather than easier-to-blend soft singing is one of the album's chief pleasures. And they are versatile enough to handle everything from the reggae dancehall tracks of "Sometimes Dancin'" and the wah-wah funk tracks of "True to Me" to the Eagles' "I Can't Tell You Why." Soundbite cut: "If You Love Me." --Geoffrey Himes
